Permutation-lock.



11019452 0.; v PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.- M. B.MILLS.. I PBRMUTATION LOOK.

{union-101w rum) 9013.26.1907.

2 SHBETS- BHEET 1,

aye/M TE T TENTOFFICEI Mtnrnms B. MILLS, or o'HIcAeo, ILL NoIs, ASSIGNORToMILLs KEYIQEss LOCK & NOVELTY MFG. 00., or CHICAGO, 1LLINOIS, AcoRPoRATIo'NoE ILLINOIS.

. PERM UTATION -LOCK.

Specification of LetteIsPatentQ I Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed October 26, 1907. Serial No. 899,269.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MORTIMER B. MILLS, a

citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful'lmprovement inPermutation-Locks, of vwhich the following is "a s ecification. i

My invention re ates to an improvement in permutation-locks; and myobject is to providea novel and sim le construction ofpermutation-lock,to amptit, more partIcularly, for desks and drawers, for adlocks,and'the like, and which shall enable the. parts to be readily assembledby unskilled abor in the manufacture of the look.

In the accom any'ing drawings, Figure 1 is a partly sectional inner-faceview of In improved lock as adapted to be applied'to a drawer, andshowing it in lockedcondition;

I elusive, 1 mechanism, and it is.a apted to be fastened use on aroll-to 'g. 2, a similar View of the same, showing it in unlockedcondition, andFig. 3, an enlarged section taken at the line 3 on .Fig. 1and viewed in the direction of. the arrow. Fig. '4 is a erspective viewof one of two similar tum lers employed in the construction; Fig. 5, aperspective view of the permuting sto '-disk which engages with thetumbler of ig. 4 Fig. 6, a similar view showing the other of the twotumblers in mesh with ainion on the lock-operating starwheel; 7, asimilar view of anannulardisk detail, and Fig. 8, a similar viewof a capdetail adapted 'to cooperate with the, tumbler ofFig. 6 for changing thecombination and with the disk of Fig. 7-. Figs. 9 and 10 are views likethose presented, respectively, in Figs. 1 and 2, but showing a modifiedconstruction: of the lock adapting it for desk, or the like; and Fi s.11 and 12 are views in vertical sectional e evation of adlocks equippedwith my improvement in a form adapted for that, species of. lock andrespectively locked and unlocked condition.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 8, in- 3 is the sup orting-platefor the against the recessed face of a drawer, or the ii I I e (notshown), being provided with a flange 14 which projects at a right-anglefrom its upper edge to extend over the corresponding e go of thedrawer-face, and through which 1t ma as usual, be screwed down upon suche ge. In this flange is rovided a slot 15 to register with a similar s0t 16 in face of the late is scribed;

showing it in 7 on the wheel or be a multiple thereof.

a bolt-plate 17 fastened in proper osition on r the frame 18 above thedrawer, .w iich frame contains the usual recess 19 registering'with theslot 16 to receive thelocking-bolt. In' the construction illustrated,this bolt, represented at 20, is in the formof a disk having a portioncut away to form the straight edge 21, the disk being also cut away tofornian offset 22 extending at a'right-angle to the edge 21, andadjacent to which a notch 23 is formed, the disk being centrally securedona pin 24' journaled the upper part of the late. and carrying on itsouter end a milled head 25 by which to turn it, On the inner Ipivotedgapawl 26 adapted ,to engage t e note 23 when in registry with its freeend, the tendency to such engagement being roduced by a spring 27connected. with the pawl; and from the free end of the pawl thereextends a finger 28 for the purpose hereinafter explained.

The particular mechanism thus far described is not, as to its details,essential to my invention, which is embodied in the mechanism describedas follows:

In the lower edge-of the plate 13 is formed a socket 29, ransverselythrough which extends a statinnalyfpin 30 having journaled .upon it theprimary finger-operated actuating device of the lock shown in thepreferred form of a star-wheel 31 provided centrally on its innerface'with a pinion 32. 'The,star-' wheelshown is provided with fivepoints at. equalintervals apart with the periphery concaved betweenthem, and it is. so positioned in the recess as tdcause the'points toprotrude beyond its lower edge, when they successively registertherewith, to rende them conveniently accessible for manipulating thelook, as and for'the purpose hereinafter 0.;

The wheel 31 with'itsprojecting points .and thepinion 32-form essentialelements of my improved lock, and it is important that the number of'teeth on the pinion shall ,either correspond with the number of points.shaft 33, carryingon its outer end a milled head 34, is journaled in abearing 33extending from the face of the plate in vertical alineinentwith the pin 24 and carries loosely upon it atumbler 35 in the form'of adisk having I peripheral teeth '36,

number and thus a multiple ofthe teeth on the pinion 32, which mesheswith the tumshown to be'thirty in I bler, thou h the number of the teeth'36 is immateria A radial slot 37 is provided in this tumbler, and italso has formed in it about its center a desired number of holes 38 forsetting the combination as hereinafter described. The shaft 33 containsa longitudinal groove '39 and is surrounded adjacent to the tumbler byan annular disk 40 having an inwardly-projecting tongue or key 41 toenter said groove for rotating the diskwith the shaft, and atongue 42projectin from its periphery. Anannular cap 43 Toosely surrounds theshaft 33 to,cover the disk 40 and has a lug 44 extending from it intothe path of the tongue 42 and 'a stud 45 adapted to register with thecirculaiseries of holes 38 in the tumbler 35. A washer 46 extends fromthe pin 30 and loosely surrounds the shaft 33 to-cover the inner face ofthe cap 44.

Anothertumbler 47 loosely surrounds the shaft adjacent to the washer andis shown to be of precisely the same construction as the tumbler 35,being rovided with teeth 36, a radial slot 37 an a circular series ofholes 38. It is not necessary, however, that the tumbler 47 be toothed.An annular sto disk 48 fits about the shaft 33 adjacent to t e tumbler47, with which it is caused'to rotate through the medium of a tongue orkey 49 projecting into the groove 39; and thisdisk is provided on' oneedge with a stud 50 to register with the circular series of holes 38,and with a radially-extending stop-finger 51, shown to be slightlycurved, diametrically opposite the stud 50. The elements supported onthe shaft 33 are resiliently confined one against the other by acoiled-sprin 52 about the inner end of the shaft and con ed againstthe-.face of the stop-disk 48, as by a -cotter-pin 53.

the star-wheel 31 is manipulated in a manner depending upon theparticular combination for which the lock is set. The operation ofunlocking is started with the stop-finger 51 abutting against one sideor the other of the pin 30, which may be considered the zero position.The star-wheel is turned by applying a finger, as the forefinger, to theproecting point of the wheeland wiping the. finger downalong, theadjacent edge of the plate until another point protrudes beyond thelatter foryanother, similar manipulation by the finger, thesemanipulations being repeated the number of times required for thepredetermined combination known to the operator. Thus'turning thestar-wheel in one direction rotates'in that direction both tumblers,sinee the tumbler 35 is rotated by the pinion 32 and rotates with it theca 43 by engagement with a hole 38 of. the stu 45, and in the rotationof the cap the lug 44 thereon abutting a ainst the tongue 42 on the disk40 turns t e latter and causes the tongue 41, which is in theshaft-groove 39, to turn the shaft, and also turn the tumbler 47 byreason of the engagement with a hole 38 therein of the stud 50 on thestop-disk 48,. the ton ue 49 on which is in the shaft-recess 39/ Wienthe star-wheel has been turned 1 in the one direction the predeterminednumberof times to bring the slot 37 in the tumbler 47 into registrationwith the pawl-finger 28, to then bring the slot 37 in the tumbler 35into the same registration the star-wheel is turned the predeterminednumber of times in the other direction by successively manipulating therojecting points. In turning the star-whee as last described, thetumbler 47 remains stationary, since in the rotation -of the tumbler 35in that direction the lug 44 on the cap turns away from the tongue 42 onthe disk 40, thus without causing the latter to rotate the shaft andconse uently without causing it'torotate the tum ler 47. With the slotsof both tumblers thus brought into registration with each other and withthe owl-finger 28, the pin 24 may be turned to withdrawthe bolt 20 inthe manner described.

To change the combination it is but necessary to separate the stop-disk48 from the tumbler 47, or the cap 43 from the tumbler 35, or both, inthe one instance withdrawing the stud 50 from one hole 38 and introduc--ing it into another by slightly turning the stop-disk, and in the otherinstance withdrawing the stud 45 from a hole 38 and intro ducing it intoanother hole in the tumbler 35 by slightly turning the cap. Suchseparation may easily be effected by introducing a suitable sharpinstrument, such as a blade of a-pen-knife, underneath either thestop-disk 48 or the cap 43, or under both in succession to prize themagainst the resis ance of the spring 52.

The construction of the star-wheel, pinion and partson he shaft 33, andalso of the pawl 26 as snown in Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, and theiroperation, are the same as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 8,inclusive. In Figs. 9 and 10, the rotary pin 24 carries on its inner enda cam 54 containing a notch 55 to receive the pawl 26 in the posi tionof the cam represented in Fig. 10, andprovided with a projection 56 toengage the pawl in the osition of the cam represented 1n Fig. 9. his camextends between two similar spring-pressed latch-bolts 57, 57, thetendency of their spring-pressure being to force them toward each otherut.their free ends carrying lateral tongues 58, 58, to enter arecesst'19 through slots 15, 1'6,and disen them from'the. plate 17 as reresented.

in ig, 9, as-fofunlooking the rol -top of av desk; Whenthe-,tumbler-slots and pawl-,-

- fingerar'e'brought into registration, the-pin 24 may be rotated toturn the cam 54 to the.

1 position representedin Fig. ,10, wherein it --receives the pawl intothe notch, 55 and spreads the latchbolts 57'apartagainst the 1resistance of their spring-pressure to. engage' the, tongues 58' ontheirfree ends with the plate 17 andthus lock the desk.

For the padlock, the-free end of the shackle 59 isadapted-to beengaged,for looking it,

by a catch60, against w ich is confined a sprin 60 -tending-to disengageit when re-' lease fromthe locking action of a cam 61v on the rotatablepin 24, containing a notch 62 to 'receive the spring-controlled pawl 26,the.

finger 28 of' which, when it registers'with the tumbler-slots, willbe'introduced into them by turning the pin 24 to rotate the camto theposition represented in Fig. 12, wherein it turns the pawl to enter itsfinger into said.

slots and free the catch60 under the action of its spring tounlock the.shackle.

In the .pa'dlock the case .63, is substituted for the pla-te'of thepreceding figures to afi'ord. a suyport for the lockmechanism. Y 7bviously, the number of the tumbler employed, with the "cooperatingmeans for changing thecombina'tion ofea ch, may exceed two, and it 1swithinfmy invention to employonly the' 'tumbler 35 thoughwithconseqluent reduction. to theminimum of the e number of changesof'combinations. As Wlll be observed, With'the fiveointed star-wheel andpinion. rovided wit twice the number'of teeth, w 'ch isthe constructionshown, a complete turningout ofthe way of'a point, by wiping it with thefinger in. the manner describedto bring the next succeeding point toproject centrally of the. socket 29- causes the, pinion to turn to theextent of two teeth. However, the starwheel may be so operatedas always.to cause two adjacent points upon it to pro.-

trude equally beyond the edge of the socket 29 at opposite sides of theperpendicular center thereof, thereby enabling the operat-' jug-fingerto manipulate each point in .suc-f cession and thus double the numberof.

manipulations in turning the star-wheel in" each direction. v

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isber ofpoints, 'journaled on the supportto protrude, by its rotation,-saidpoints in suc-' cession beyond an edge of the support, .a

1. In a permutation-lock, the combination with asupport for themechanism, of a bolt,

a star-wheel having a predetermined num-.

pinion connected with the star-wheel, the

number of teeth on which bears a predeterfor the purpose set forth.

mined relation tothe numberoi said points, a pair of tumblerswith'interengagmg means forturning one by the other,.each tumbler.

consisting ofa toothed Wheel containing a slot and journaledon thesupport to mesh 'one of said tumblers with the pinion, andrelea'sablelockin -means for said bolt cooperating'withsai slottedtumblers, for the purpose set forth.-

2. In a permutationlock, the combination with a support for themechanism, of a bolt, a star-wheel; having a predetermined number ofpoints, journaled on the support to protrude, by its rotation, saidpoints in sno cessio'n beyond an edge. of the support,- a pinionconnected with the star-wheel, the number of teeth on whichbears apredeter mined relation to the number of said points, a pairof tumblerswith interengaging means" for turning dneby, the other, eachtumblerconsisting of a toothed wheel containing a one of said tumblers with thepinion, permuting mechanism on said tumblers and releasable lockin meanson said bolt cooperating Withsai slotted tumblers, for the purpose setforth. 7

3. In a permutation-lock, the combination a. star-wheel journaled on thesupport to protrude, by-its rotation, the pomtsthereon 1n successionbeyond an edge of the support, a

pinion'connected with thestar-wheel, a shaft ournaledon'the support, atumbler cons sting-of a toothed. wheel on the 'shaft meshmg with thepinion and containing a slot and rdvided with holes, an annular diskkeye' to the shaft and provided with a ton ue,'-a cap surrounding theshaftto cover sai disk and rovided wlth a studjto engage'oneof saldholes and with alug. to. engage w th said tongue, and releasable lockin-meansfor said bolt cooperating with said s ottedtumbler,

' 4'. In a permutation-lock, the'combination witha'support for themechanism,'-of-a bolt,

'a star-wheel having a predetermined number of. points, journaledon thesupport to protrude, by its. rotation, said points in succession beyondan edge of the su port, a pinion connected with the star-whee with itsteeth forming a multiple of the number of star? wheel points, a airoftumblers with interengaging means or turningone by the other,'eachtumbler consisting of a toothed wheel slot and journaled on thesupport to mesh containing a slot and journaled' onthe su port to meshone of said tumblers with t of" I pinion, and a spring-pawl cooperatingwith said slottedtumblersandbolt, for, the purpose set forth. v

5 In a'p'ermutation-lock, the combination .with a support for'themechanism,of a bolt,

a star-wheel journaled on the support to pretrude, by its rotation, thepoints thereon succession beyond an edgeof'the support, a,

pinion on the star-wheel,' a shaft journaled on the support, a tumblerconsistin of a toothed wheel on the shaft meshing wit the pinion andcontaining a slot and provided with holes, an annular disk keyed to theshaft and provided with a tongue, a cap surrounding the shaftto coversaid disk and provided with a stud to engage one of said holes and witha lug to engage said "tongue, a second tumbler consisting of aslottedwheel on said shaft, provided with holes, a stop-diskkeyed to theshaft and rovided with a'stud to engage a hole in said second tumblerand with a stopfinger, and a spring-pawl cooperating with said slottedtumblers and bolt, for the pur-' pose set forth.

6. .In a permutation-lock, the combination with a support for themechanism, of a starwheelv j ournaled on the sup ort to protrude, by itsrotation, the points t ereon H1 succession beyond an edge of thesupport, a pinion on the star-wheel, a shaft journaled on the support, atumbler, consisting of a toothed wheel on the shaft meshing with theinion and containing a slot and provided with oles, an annular diskkeyed to the shaft and provided with a tongue, a cap surrounding theshaft and rovided with a stud to engage one of said he es and with a lugto engage said tongue, a second tumbler consistin of a slotted wheel onsaid shaft, provide with holes, a stop-disk keyed to the shaft and pro-'vided with a stud 'to en age a hole in said second tumbler and wit sring-pawl terminating in a finger to enter the tumbler-slots, a camjournale'd on the support to enga e said pawl, and'a spring ressed boltwit which said cam engages, or the purposeset forth.

MORTIMER B. MILLS.

a stop-finger, a

